


We‘re always here for each other! We’re building our future together!

by GeorgieDenbrough



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Friendship/Love, Multi, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeorgieDenbrough/pseuds/GeorgieDenbrough
Summary: The losers will be graduating college soon. They're coming back to Derry to celebrate graduation together. They will be confronted with old and new fears again and have to defeat old ones to find out where their future will lead.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom & Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie Kaspbrak & Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon/Beverly Marsh, Richie Tozier/Stanley Uris
Kudos: 3
Collections: Poly Losers Club Fic Exchange Vol.2





	1. Meeting on the train

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story for the PLC Fic Exchange Vol.2.
> 
> It is the very first story I've ever written in english. I really hope you like it.

Ben Hanscom looks out of the train window and sees the trees and houses passing by. A few hours before, he had just handed in his bachelor thesis in library science. Now he has to wait some weeks to get his bachelor degree. He is confident about getting a good degree, because he started researching early and never had a problem with academic writing tasks. what bothers him more is, wether his friends would accept him being a librarian. He knows he can trust them, but it isn't the most interesting subject to study, unless you really are interested in books and research. Although all of the losers stayed in touch, he never told them his real study subject. They all promised each other they'd come home and wait together for their degrees.

He visited every one of them during his college time. But the last time they all had been together was a year ago when Bill celebrated his 21th birthday, so he was really excited to see them all in a few hours. They arranged to meet at their old clubhouse.

Ben really had been very lonely, because he didn't have many friends in college. The only girl he had been friends with was also one he fall in love with, which didn't end very well. She already had been in love with someone else and got furious when she found out about Bens feelings. He wrote Beverly about that and she encouraged him to go on, but he couldn't make any other friends who really understood him like his friends from the loser club. That's why he really missed them every single day.

Ben looks up as someone just cheekily pricks him in the side. He looked straight into the beautiful eyes of Beverly Marsh. He'd had quite a crush on her in high school. Even though Ben had been in love with someone else in between, he felt butterflies in his stomach every time, if Bev is anywhere near him. Bev just sits next to Ben. "Did I just catch you thinking about dirty things?", of course she's just trying to wind him up a little more. It makes Ben uncomfortable how close she is sitting to him right now. "Of course not. "Of course not. I was just admiring the scenery outside." Bev raises an eyebrow, but leaves it there for now and refuses another teasing comment.

For a while they both sit there in silence. Bev somehow likes it when Ben looks so embarrassed. "How are you?" Ben then dares to ask the redheaded girl. That's a good question. She herself doesn't know exactly how she feels about having finished her studies very soon and having to decide whether to start an additional training. Bev is studying psychology and for a career as a psychotherapist she needs further training. In fact, most of the students in her courses were men and it had been difficult for her to be the only woman in it. "I'm fine", she answers, but doesn't sound very confident. Ben suspects that the red-haired girl is not telling the truth, but he doesn't want to force her to confide in him. She'll talk if she wants to.

"It's a funny situation to be finished soon and then... then to think about what to do with your life..." Bev then says quietly. Ben gives her a somewhat worried look because she sounds so depressed. "What if I can't be a good psychologist because of my past... ...because of my father?", somehow she trusts Ben so much right now, it's just pouring out of her."You'll make a wonderful psychologist. Your experiences help you to understand your patients. You have much more empathy than others." He'd like to put his arm around her shoulder, but he doesn't really dare. Bev gives him a little smile. "You're always so sweet, Ben!" Quickly he looks in another direction. He can feel himself turning red.

"You guys gonna start cuddling without me?" Suddenly, Mike's in front of them. "How could we cuddle without an attractive detective?" Bev replies sassy. She moves a little aside so that she is now sitting in the middle of the two men. Mike studies criminology and wants to become a private detective. He's pretty good at his studies. The only problem is that during his internships he had to listen to racist comments again and again or his intelligence and detective skills were questioned. But together with his two friends he feels safe and secure. The losers have always accepted him so well. During the ride they talk mainly about old times.How they set up their clubhouse, how they came together more and more as a group, also because they had faced their fears and fought against IT. Time goes by pretty fast for the three of them, too. Each of them can hardly wait to get off the train.

When they finally arrive, they quickly pack up their things and storm off the train. "First one to the clubhouse buys the others an ice cream," Bev calls out to the other two. They all hurry to unload their things and get to the clubhouse as fast as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie Kaspbrak is the first one to arrive at the old clubhouse. Because he and Bill Denbrough stayed in Derry they met there every week. It hadn't been the same without the others, but they managed to keep the place clean and kept each other company while studying for their exams or writing their bachelor thesis.

Bill always wanted to become an author and write horror books. He had studied English literature, but also began writing his first book. Eddie had to study history, because he couldn't stay away from his mother, who mysteriously started to be sick when he told her he wanted to study drama with Richie. First she had some heart problems and than she started to get cancer. Although Bill always told him that his mum could be lying to make him stay at home and it wouldn't be the first time she lied to keep him by her side, he just couldn't get rid of the thought that it might be true this time.

One day when Eddie had again fighting with his mother, he decided to stay the night at the club house. He took his sleeping back and made himself comfortable on the bottom.

Bill couldn't sleep because he had some writing ideas and needed a quiet place to write them down. He found Eddie lying on the ground crying. "W..w..what's up, Eddie? Still m..m..missing Richie?!", he asked and wanted even to tease the smaller one a bit. Bill didn't know why, but he liked it and likes it still when Eddie begins to blush if he mentions Richie. For Bill it never was a secret that those two had feelings for each other. "Shut up, Bill! Or do you wanna have my fist in your face?!", Eddie answered mad, but also feeling a little bit embarrassed. "My mum drives me crazy!" Bill did want to say that Eddies mum always drove him crazy, but of course he didn't.

He sat down next to him instead and slowly pulled his arm around the smaller one. "You s..shouldn't always let your mum d..decide everything. You deserve better than just being her dog", he than said softly. Bill thought about how he could cheer him up. "Do you w..w..want to hear the first chapter of my first novel? I could use a s..s..second opinion." "Of course I do!" Even though Bills story was a horror story, Eddie enjoyed listen to Bills voice. He noticed that Bill didn't even stutter once.

Eddie caught himself looking at Bills lips. Why did he think of kissing him while he was reading a horror story?! It obviously didn't help either how close they were sitting next to each other. Eddie definitely began to feel warm inside. It was the same feeling he always had then he was close to Richie.

The whole situation was totally confusing. He never admitted his feelings towards Richie and now he was in love with two of his friends?! Was it even possible to have feelings for more than one person?! Bill realized his friend started to blush again. "I..I..don't wanna know why my s..s..story clearly makes you think about Richie", he laughed. "Stop talking like that!", Eddie shouted and started to punch him against his right side. Bill tried to fight back, still laughing. They ended up with Eddie lying on Bill. Eddie bit his lip. He started to get nervous inside, but didn't dare to kiss Bill or touch him tenderly in any way, although he wanted to do so more and more.

Bill was the one who started stroking Eddie's cheek. He didn't know himself why he was just sure he could do it at that moment. After the other one didn't bother to push him away, even seemed to enjoy it, he started to take Eddie's shirt off and got rid of his shirt himself. He began to stroke lightly across Eddie's sides, then scratched lightly across his back. Eddie gasped under Bill's touch and began to kiss him on the lips, hesitantly at first, then more and more wildly. Bill returned the kiss, longing increasingly for the lips of the smaller one. After the two of them lay kissing on top of each other for quite a while, Bill slowly started to open Eddie's pants and pull them down a bit. He lightly stroked over the bulge that was already visible through the other's shorts. Eddie moaned slightly and in turn began to get Bill's pants off. Surprisingly it was Eddie who first started to reach into Bill's shorts and touch his limb. Bill moaned louder and pressed himself closer to the other's hand. It was damn hot to hear Bill moaning. Eddie began to enjoy getting the other one more and more excited. But because Bill didn't want to give up the helm completely to Eddie, he also started pumping the dark-haired one's limb. Driven to make Bill moan more than he made him moan, he also started to nibble his neck. Bill whimpered slightly and writhed, becoming more and more agitated. Eddie grinned with satisfaction and pumped his limb faster and faster until Bill came with a very loud moan.

They continued to make out in several nights, always alternating who finally let whom come. Without really talking to each other, they kept the nights secret until now. The two of them even went so far as to start sleeping together properly.


	3. Chapter 3

Unlike the others, Stan feels little pleasure that day getting on the train and going home. It isn't as if he does'nt want to see his friends again, but he just feels empty. He also almost finished his mathematics studies. But he is more and more lacking motivation and there is simply nothing that makes him feel happy anymore. There is also this constant fear that IT could return and bring back all the nightmares of the losers.

Stan stands on a narrow bridge and looks at the water below him. Maybe it's better to end it all now before he gets a bad grade or he drags his friends down with his mood of grief. What should become of him? He leans against the railing.

For a long time he has had days like this where he would rather be dead than alive. He even doesn't want to go to his strict dad again. Maybe he should just end it now.

Stan looks around if somebody could see him, but nobody seems to notice him. He had never told the others about his worsening depression. Since he was always quieter than the others, he didn't think anyone could have noticed. He took another look at the water below him. If he would jump now, he would be rid of all his worries.

Stan begins to climb over the railing when he hears a distant voice. "Stan, what kind of climbing exercises do you do?" Without turning around, he knows pretty well that this voice belongs to Richie Tozier. "Go away, Richie!", he yelled at him. "Just leave me alone!"

Even though Stan always thought that nobody noticed his bad mood and sadness, Richie had noticed very well that something was wrong with his friend. Only he is just not the type to approach them directly, especially since he himself hides a lot behind his own jokes and happy facade.

Richie knew since high school that he liked men, especially one particular man. He couldn't count the number of times Henry Bowers and his gang had bullied him for giving a pretty boy even a second too long a look. The fact that he had a special eye on Eddie was probably even noticed by some of his loser friends. Although Bill was definitely attractive, and Mike. Actually, all his Loser Club friends fascinated him in a certain way. But he had never been able to bring it up. After all, he didn't know what they thought about such thoughts and especially not about the fact that he was into men in general. Only to Beverly he had hinted at his inclinations in a conversation. It is still not easy to keep his sexual inclination secret from the other acting students. Who would let a gay actor play a straight role like Romeo? Although he was more interested in the fun parts. Still, he would get fewer roles if he came out. But he is not particularly happy with it, he hides his inclinations behind jokes and does not show too many feelings.

Richie has passed the last written tests, only the practical part is still ahead of him. Every day he practices his monologues, but he feels the increasing pressure on himself to convince the world of his acting abilities.

Richie only now realizes that Stan really intend to jump off the bridge. Panic rises in him. What can he do to stop the other one? Is Stan really that desperate to do something like this? Well, apparently he can answer that question with yes. "The leap down would cost you your life." What an intelligent statement. Why can't he think of anything better?! "Perhaps it would be better to jump on a trampoline." He's just totally helpless. If Stan was jumping and he couldn't stop him, what kind of friend would he be?! "Beep beep, Richie!" That's usually how he was silenced by his friends. "Stan, please don't do this," he then begins to plead, slowly moving closer to the railing Stan is still holding onto. "Whatever you've been through, whatever you want to do now, we need you! I need you, Eds, Bev, Ben, Mike... Bill. Who the fuck else is gonna give us a hairnet for spiders if you're not around... or who's gonna help me if I miscount again?" "You don't know what it's like to be Jewish and be looked at by others for being like that, even at that time. "Or what it's like to have a strict father or to feel this fear all the time. I don't feel safe anywhere, Rich. You don't need me, I'm sad, I'm a coward." Richie reaches the railing and grabs Stan's arms, holds him tight. Stan doesn't really know what's happening to him. Richie's grip actually feels so comforting. "I don't know how I'm going to make it all work, Rich," he says quietly. "We're always with you! I'm always here for you!" It's unusual how serious and gentle Richie can sound. He lets Richie help him back to the safe ground of the bridge. Unsolicited, Richie draws his friend more to himself and strokes his hair. He just holds it tight. "Don't ever try that again, Stan! You didn't think you could get away from my jokes, did you?!", he grins at the other one. They just stand there for a while. Richie takes more than one deep breath, this is not the situation he expected when you first come home. "Let's go join the others. Unless you want to stay in my arms, which I could understand." Stan has to laugh at his words. He would have liked to stay in Richie's arms a little longer, but at the same time he's happy to see the others again. "Thanks for being there for me!" he looks into Richie's eyes one last time before he walks towards the clubhouse. "But don't think that this is the last time I cuddled you", with these words Richie follows his friend.


	4. Chapter 4

While Eddie is still thinking about his nights with Bill and what they mean now, Stan and Richie reach the clubhouse. Stan still seems quite helpless and depressed, even though it was clearly good for him that Richie took care of him. Richie had tried to cheer Stan up again with his jokes, but this was only halfway successful. Richie had to promise Stan not to say anything about the incident on the bridge. Even if he didn't like it at all, he would never put his friend in an awkward position.

"Hey Eds, you're here all alone without your mother? How many kisses did you have to give her for that?" , he grins cheekily at the dark-haired boy. It's his way of showing him how much he missed him. Only he can only do it by joking.Eddie rolls his eyes. "The question is, how many kicks should I give you for your unfunny mother jokes?" , he counters. Nevertheless he greets his friend with a short hug. Which just feels much too wonderfully familiar. Then he walks towards Stan. He hugs him just as firmly. He notices that Stan is rather hesitant to be taken in his arms.Still, he doesn't think much of it. "I bought chips and coke! Help yourselves." Both things his mother would never let him do. That's why he wanted to get them even more.

He takes a few glasses from the small cupboard and puts one in each man's hand. Eddie winces for a moment as he puts his fingers against Richie's. He quickly takes a sip from his glass. It's so confusing. Both Bill and Richie make his heart beat faster.Stan tries to appear as normal as possible in front of Eddie. He notices Richie giving him some worried looks and forces himself to smile. If he hadn't shown up, he wouldn't be sitting here now. While Eddie and Richie are talking about their studies and plundering the chips, he sits a bit silently next to them. A few minutes later Bev, Ben and Mike arrive. Then Bill. 

So when all the Loser Club members are assembled, Bill stands up from his seat. "I'm happy to see you all again and I'm glad that everyone has found their way here. Even if we are all still waiting for our graduation, I still want to have a toast with you", he lifts his Coke glass. "Here's to our friendship, which, as it always turns out, will last forever!" Bill had practised specially and is trying to get all the words together without stammering. The others also raise their glasses. "To our friendship," they repeat. The others also raise their glasses. "To our friendship," they repeat.

Stan is the only one who speaks only very softly, which Bill notices this time. He sits down beside him. "What's wrong with you?" he asks quietly. Stan definitely doesn't want to spoil the celebration. "Oh nothing, I'm just a little tired from the drive." "Stan... P..p..please, just tell me what's w..w..wrong." But Stan just doesn't dare to talk about it, instead he evades the questions with the reason to get some fresh air. "Stan... Stan, please wait!" But he ignores Richie. "Why did you push him so hard?" Richie immediately attacks Bill. Bill is pretty confused. All he wants to know is what's going on with Stan. "I c..c..certainly didn't mean to rush him, Rich." "Stop it, Rich! He didn't do anything bad! Why are you suddenly so overprotective of Stan?", that comes out of Eddie faster before he even thought about what he said. Richie stares at Eddie with surprise. Does he detect a little jealousy in Eddie's words? No, he must be imagining it. "I better take care of him," he says, then runs after Stan.


	5. Chapter 5

Back out in the fresh air Rich looks around for Stan. But he can't find him anywhere. "Stan?" he cries out. No answer. In panic he begins to run around the area. "Stan? Damn it! Where are you? Please answer me!" There are distinct horror scenarios playing out in his head.

In panic, he pushes leaves apart, runs around and keeps calling out Stan's name. He's still not getting an answer. He flinches as it rustles behind him. "Stan? Stan, is that you?" He looks around frantically. It rustles again, this time closer to him. "Hello? Who is this?" Still, it could be an animal of some kind. It'll be quiet for a moment. Maybe he imagined it. Richie keeps looking around for his friend. He thinks back to the situation at the bridge. He hopes it doesn't happen again. He's gotta find Stan.

Suddenly he feels a few cold fingers on his neck, which make him freeze. "Richie, how I've missed you!" He doesn't dare move an inch. He isn't sure to recognize the voice, but only Pennywise would talk to him like that. "I know you're scared of me! You're afraid of clowns." Is that really IT? His breath is getting faster. The hands are pressing a little harder on his neck. He's throwing a little, trying to get more breath. "You're just a shabby clown. You can't touch me! If you kept stroking my neck, I'd almost think you were into me or something!", he tries to encourage himself and impress Pennywise with humor. The clown laughs unpleasantly in Richie's ear. "It hasn't changed, you're still trying to play the clown. But that won't do you any good now. Oh, yeah, I dig you, Richie. Most of all, I like to rip you to shreds right now." Richie keeps trying to tell himself that this isn't real. But it's no good. He's getting less and less air and this is very real."Hold still, that's a good boy." Richie's too busy gasping for breath to somehow fight back or think about how to escape. He wants to make another comment, but he can't get a word out. "Beep-beep, Richie!" He notices how one hand is loosened, but the second is still on his neck.

"We're going to leave your little friends a little souvenir!" What does that mean? What is this crazy clown doing to him?! He could need Eddie's inhaler right now. If Pennywise kills him soon, probably even ate him, he would never be able to help Stan deal with his depression. He'd never be able to admit to the others that he likes men, too. His acting career would go nowhere either. He would die a nothing.

If he's gonna survive this somehow, he has to do more with his life. With great horror, he watches the clown monster pull a knife out of his pocket. "I hope you at least leave my head in one piece, " he now gasps and even trembles with fear. Again he hears the gruesome laughter of the clown close to his ear. "What shall I cut off first? Your arm, like I did to little Georgie?" He strokes the knife lightly on Richie's arm. "Or do I start with your penis!" He feels the knife blade move between his crotch and, as he can't breathe, he can only rattle with pain. Again he hears the gruesome laughter of the clown close to his ear. "What shall I cut off first? Your arm, like I did to little Georgie?" He strokes the knife lightly on Richie's arm. "Or do I start with your penis!" He feels the knife blade move between his crotch and, as he can't breathe, he can only rattle with pain. "But actually I was thinking of something else first!" And before Richie even realizes what's happening to him, the clown makes a large incision in his left middle finger. The pain is overwhelming. The blood rushes from his hand to the floor. He can feel every drop. He's getting dizzy. The pain, just the thought that he is missing a finger, just makes him pass out.


	6. Chapter 6

Stan just needs a moment alone. He knows himself it wasn't a good move running out there. After a while, he's ashamed of it. His mood has been fluctuating enormously lately. Then it still lies in his bones how desperate he had been a few hours ago. I hope Richie didn't spill anything. After all, he's known for talking a lot, even if he trusts him.

He takes another deep breath. Then he decides to go back in. He has to apologize to Bill and hopes he didn't worry Richie too much.

He returns with a slightly lowered head and a guilty expression. He returns with a slightly lowered head and a guilty expression. The others knew nothing else to do but wait for them. Bill goes straight to Stan. "I'm s..s..sorry, I didn't m..m..mean to rush you, St..st..stan. I'm just worried about you. You're all very important to me!" Somehow Bill's words move him a little smile. But then he looks around. "Where's Richie?" "We thought he is with you. We thought he was looking for you." Eddie tries to be as neutral as possible. Damn it, Stan is his friend. He can't be jealous of him. He can't be jealous that both Bill and Richie are taking care of Stan. Besides, Stan's kind of cute, with his blonde curls. God damn it, he likes every one of his friends now and is jealous at the same time when they are busy with someone else. When is this chaos gonna end?! But, he's just been in that mess for a long time.

"Maybe he's still looking for you," Beverly now joins in. Bill doesn't know why, but he has a funny feeling about Richie not showing up yet. "We should go look for him! Two of us should stay in here in case he does come back and the rest of us should look outside!" They decide Stan and Ben wait in the clubhouse and the rest follow Bill outside.

It's Eddie who first becomes aware of the blood in the grass. More precisely, he discovers it when he puts his foot in the red liquid. Disgusted and horrified, he cries out briefly. Bill is with him immediately. Eddie stares at the blood on his shoe and the wet blades of grass. He starts to shake a little. "Do you think it's... ?" He can't speak his mind. Bill has to swallow, too. He's assuming the worst right now. But, they don't know yet if that's really Richie's blood. Carefully, he puts one arm on Eddie's shoulder. He doesn't care if the others see it at that moment. "It m..m..must not be Richie's blood. "It c..c..can be an animal. Stay calm, Eddie!" But being afraid himself, he pulls Eddie a little closer to himself. Beverly approaches them as well. She never says a word about how close the two boys are. "We should follow the blood trail," she then says as matter-of-factly as possible. Her heart beats up to her neck.

Now Mike has also find his way to the three and takes the lead. Since he wants to become a detective, this is a task for him. He also has to swallow several times. The blood trail leads some meters further to a bush. Mike is the first to see what lies on the ground in front of this bush. Without further ado he has to choke. There is a finger lying there. Eddie now really cries out and clings to Bill. "This must be a nightmare," he mumbles rather palely. Although Mike has theoretically heard everything about forensics and crime scene investigation during his studies, he has never done it himself. He's not sure if he's cut out to be a detective. If that's richie's finger, then he's gotta be investigating his friend's disappearance, maybe even his... no, he can't think about that. There's no evidence of that yet. "We should call the police," he hears Eddie say behind him. Even though this would certainly be the most sensible solution, he feels his pride is hurt. "No, we'll investigate the crime scene together." "Are you crazy?! "If that's Richie's finger and this is his blood, let's leave it to the pros. "This is about Rich, for Christ's sake," Eddie says to the dark-skinned guy. He wants to slap him around, but Bill's holding him down. "Mike is right! We don't know what the hell this is all about yet." Eddie is trying to break away from Bill. "What if we get cut up the same way? What if Rich dies because we're trying to be heroes again?"

Mike tries not to be impressed by Eddie's words and keeps a cool head. "We need to stick our finger in a bag of ice cubes. At least a bag. Eddie, you got anything there? Bill text Stan and Ben to get over here. We should all stay together. We can't do a DNA match, but maybe we can see something distinctive about this finger, we should wash it off. We should also search the place for any evidence of what happened here. " Eddie is staring devastatingly at Mike. "This isn't some dumb detective game. I'm not touching a bloody finger or looking for clues to anything." He manages to get loose and storms up to Mike, grabs him by the collar. "I swear to God, if we don't find Rich in time, I'm gonna kill you." He shakes Mike. Of course Mike knows that Eddie's reaction is more than justified. But back when they had defeated IT, they had done it too, while the police were in the dark. Something tells him that this could be a similar situation. "Eddie, this is no good." Eddie seems like an angry little terrier right now. "Calm down, Eddie." Beverly and Bill are both trying to hold on to Eddie. "Two against one, that's not fair! I'd like to scratch that wanna-be detective's face!" "I'm no would-be detective!" Mike's just sensitive about that because he doubts his own abilities. "Eddie, stop it." Bev can tell Mike's role is far from easy right now, but unlike Eddie, she wants to give Mike a chance. ...especially since she wouldn't go straight to the police. At least not if there are more guys working there who are like Henry Bowers dad was. "So, Sherlock, you take a good look around this place. I'm going to text Ben and Stan and tell them to get over here."

Mike looks around critically. Due to the fact that it has rained a lot, footprints are not visible. He squats down and looks at the spot where they found the finger. "The blood on the ground hasn't dried yet," he then notes. "Whoever's finger it is, he or sie was here recently." Which, unfortunately, could be an indication that it's Richie's finger. "A few branches in the bushes are clearly broken off. It looks like someone was waiting in the bushes." Eddie looks around suspiciously right away. They could still be being watched.

"That's a good start, Sherlock. But you've overlooked the fact that there's something on the ground here", Ben and Stan got to the others pretty quickly. Ben picks up a note from the floor. "You can't just pick that up without gloves," protests Mike and immediately takes the note from his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I know, because of the fingerprints, I'm sorry..." Mike unfolds the note and freezes. "What's going on, Sherlock?" Bev looks over his shoulder and lets Eddie go. The note is written in blood: "Welcome home, Loser Club. That way we'll have time to play together again. If you want to see your friend again, I hope you know where to find me. It's time for you all to finally float!" Bev reads the message in a slightly shaking voice. For a short while there is dead silence. Each of them knows what that means, IT is back.

"This cannot be! That's impossible," Ben says first. "It's not 27 years ago." "Oh really?! Then it's probably not even real that Richie was kidnapped? That we found his finger. Maybe we wait until it's 27 years and Richie's dead by then", Eddie hisses at Ben without restraint. "St..stay calm, Eds!" "What if he's already dead, Bill? We shouldn't have let him go after Stan alone. "You know it could be a trap and IT could have...", he couldn' t even finish his sentence. The thought that he might not see Richie again, that IT had already torn him apart, is just too much for him. Bill strokes Eddie's hair, tries to pull him in. "Richie's not dead! Don't even think about it." "And if he does? We could have done something! We should have gone after him! He could have bled to death!" Eddie seems to be unstoppable. Bill paws him on both wrists, still trying to be as gentle as possible. "Stop it, Eds! We'll find him, alive!"


	7. Chapter 7

A few minutes later they are standing in front of the well House, which they only know too well. Each of them remembers too well everything that had happened there during their encounters with IT. "Maybe we really should call the police!" Stan's feeling that incredible fear again. If IT is going to play on their fears again, he can foresee that he doesn't want to leave this house alive. He doesn't want to see that horrible lady in the picture, he doesn't want IT to give him the thoughts he had on the bridge before. Eddie, who was so panicked earlier, now feels quite an anger towards IT. "We go in there now! I'm gonna kill that fucking clown with my own hands!"Bev doesn't know at the moment whether she should be more concerned or amused by Eddie's words. Bill looks at the group with a serious look. "We must stay together! It's the only way we have of staying alive and getting Richie out of there." Even if Stan wanted to run away, he would never leave Richie to Pennywise. The way they all pulled together to save Bev. They swallow one last time until they enter the house. It's still the same, creepy and deserted. Eddie wishes that Richie would be right next to him making some stupid jokes. But Richie's not here. He's trying not to think that maybe he won't hear his jokes anymore. If Richie was dead, he'd feel it. They'd all feel it in their hearts. With a disgusted face, Eddie looks at the cobwebs hanging all over the house. For the moment only her steps on the stairs could be heard. No one dared to talk. Bev notices that Stan is lagging behind a bit and lets himself fall back too. "I know this is especially hard for you," she says softly. "Are you analyzing me now?" Stanley tries to say that as calmly as possible. "You don't have to analyze anything to realize you seem depressed all the time and that even before Richie disappeared." "Bev, I'm not your patient, okay?" Bev sighs. She knows Stan doesn't want any help right now. Don't dilly-dally! You should stay with us!" Mike keeps looking around if he sees anything suspicious or hears a noise. But it remains eerily quiet. "Do you smell that?" Eddie senses a sweet smell. Before he can identify it, the losers sink into darkness.

Eddie wakes up in an almost empty room. He quickly realizes that only Stan is still with him. He remembers the sweet smell. They've all been drugged. Where are the others? Before he tries to wake Stan, he runs for the door. But it's locked, as we suspected. There is nothing in the room but a large wooden chest. This doesn't look good. He returns to Stan as soon as he begins to wake up. The latter seems even more frightened than he is. Eddie still feels a slight jealousy when he thinks about how both Richie and Bill are always trying to get Stan. Stop! This is no place to be jealous. "You okay?" he asks Stan. With a short hesitation Stan nods at Eddie's question. What else would they expect to find here? His gaze also falls on the chest. "Have you looked in there yet?" "No! We better let them! Who knows what'll jump out at us?" Even if nothing bad happens just now, Stan already has goose bumps. Would they ever get out of here? Maybe jumping off this bridge would have saved him. He is torn from his gloomy thoughts when the chest suddenly pops open. He's terrified and holds on to Eddie. Eddie immediately notices that his breath immediately becomes faster again and he gets less air. He wants to reach into his breast pocket to get the inhaler out. But it's gone. He doesn't have time to look for the breast pocket anywhere in the room right now. Although it's more likely it was taken from him on purpose anyway. A figure rises from the chest, which strongly reminds them of the Grim Reaper. It's wearing a black robe and holding a kind of scythe. Eddie pulls Stan closer and closer to the wall with him. The figure doesn't quite take the hood off her face, but Eddie can see that she has scars and strange marks on her skin. Much like the leper. He gets sick right away. He won't let that figure near them. "Don't come near us or I'll kick your face in!" It's hard for Eddie to say this as his asthma is getting much worse. The Grim Reaper hurries towards them. "You're gonna die, Eddie! Just like your friend Richie died. If you have the guts, attack me. I'll let you choke on your asthma!" He grabs Eddie by the arm very hard. "Or you'll die from catching my infection." Now he grabs him right in the face. Eddie's flailing around. He feels like he's going to throw up or he's going to suffocate. The brunette struggles for breath. Stan is pretty helpless at first. He's just too panicked to move in any way. But when he notices Eddie gasping for air more and more, he tries to push the dark figure away. "Leave him alone!" Eddie can't help but smile easily. Even when he panics. It's kind of cute how Stan's trying to defend him now. God, why must he think that at this moment? The Grim Reaper now turns to Stan. "You think you can threaten me, Stanley?! You'd like to kill yourself. To get away from this. To get out of your miserable life. "The voice sounds rather hoarse. Stan tries not to listen to the words, but unfortunately this figure is right. His hands with which he tries to push the creature away from Eddie tremble slightly. Although Eddie feels as if he is close to fainting, he realizes how much these words are bothering Stan. He doesn't know anything about what happened on the bridge, but he still feels his friend's fear and sadness. "Pay no attention, Stan," he gasps. Instead of pushing the Reaper away or fighting him, he reaches for Stanley's hand. Even though Eddie's hand is quite warm, he still shakes. The Grim Reaper manages to push the two apart. He throws a knife at Stan. "Come on! You can end it all, Stanley! Kill yourself and you'll suffer less than your little friend!" Then he grabs Eddie, pushes him against the wall. "And you, you'll die without ever getting away from your mother." Eddie feels the cold hands on his arms. He's getting too disgusted, trying to fight back. He feels dizzy from the lack of breath. Stan stares at the knife. "Start cutting, or your friend is dead!" He's still trying to resist. The thought of cutting himself is too tempting. But with Eddie's life on the line, he starts cutting into his wrist with the knife. "Stan, stop it!" Eddie can only rant hoarse.He has no breath. Slowly he sinks into a black hole. Still he fights on. He doesn't want Stan to hurt himself for him.  
He swings and hits the Reaper in the face with full force. The reaper is so surprised that he lets go of him. Eddie runs to Stan and grabs him and the knife. "Stop it!" He holds the knife out on the black creature. "Now I'm armed."

How he manages that, he doesn't even know afterwards. But he kicks the door with full force, manages to open it and runs into the stairwell with Stan. He stops at the railing, gasps for air. He takes a quick look around. There's no sign of the Reaper right now. Stan's wrist is bleeding pretty bad. Since he doesn't have his bag there, the only way to stop the blood is to take off his shirt and use it as a bandage. Stan is still too shocked by the whole situation. Nevertheless, he looks at Eddie for a moment and sees him without his shirt on. It makes him blush. Eddie notices his look and becomes embarrassed as well. He has acted purely intuitively. His courage amazes him a bit himself. The jealousy of the other one has definitely gone. Instead, he bites his lips briefly because Stan is so close to him. Their eyes meet for a brief moment. Even though the Grim Reaper could show up at any time, Eddie can't help but pull Stan towards him and kiss him.

Bill wakes up from someone shaking him hard. Confused, he opens his eyes. The first thing he sees are several bookshelves. Then he notices that he is lying on the floor and looks at Ben's face. "Wake up!" Again, Ben shakes him. "I am awake," he mumbles."Where are we?" It really takes Bill a while to find his way back. "In the library... I didn't even know the well house had one." Ben gets up again and looks at the shelves.the first thing he notices is that the books are rather disorderly and all have a thick layer of dust on the spine. Nevertheless, all these books fascinate him. He actually starts to think about how he would rearrange some of them. But then he remembers that he didn't tell anybody what he had studied and also what kind of situation they are in. Bill is also looking around the library. "W...why are w...we here? Where a..are the o...others?" He just speaks his mind out loud. "We n... need to find them." Of course, the door was locked too. Ben suspects that it is no coincidence that they ended up in the library. Yet he pretends he doesn't know why. 

They both flinched when a couple of books fell on the floor. They look at each other. Neither of them is saying it, but they both have the idea that they're not alone there. Bill goes first to the shelf from which the books fell. He picks up one of the books. For a moment he has to cough because of the dust. It's a copy of Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The books that fell off the shelf are all classics of literature. He flinches when he notices a shadow behind one of the shelves. With a nod of his head in that direction he makes Ben aware of the shadow. While Ben is still a little insecure about how he should behave now, Bill takes his courage and slowly walks towards the shadow. He is screaming when suddenly a well-known clown figure jumps at him. Ben involuntarily takes a step back. "Hey there, did you guys miss me?" The clown's got a mean grin on his face. Actually, the clown looks a little different than Bill remembers, but maybe that's because they hadn't seen him for several years. "What did you do with Richie? Where'd you hide the others?" Bill tries not to show his fear. A quick glance at Ben shows him that he too must try not to tremble. The clown laughs loud and quite crooked. "What does it matter, Billie? I'm gonna eat you both!" As the clown gets closer, the two men back away. "But first, I want to have a little talk with you guys." Bill swallows briefly. "Talk? About what? About how delicious our legs are going to be?" Ben keeps trying to sound brave. "Like about how bad this library here is, right, Ben? The books dusted, the books put away in a mess. You could do better than that, of course." "I don't know what you are talking about." The Clown reaches Ben and gives him a resounding slap. "I told you not to lie, Benny Bear." After he says this, the clown giggles again. Even though Bill has absolutely no idea what exactly the clown means by his words, he reaches for a book and throws it at it, "Leave him alone! Take me instead!" Bill's willing to do anything for his friends. He was willing to sacrifice himself then and he's still willing to sacrifice himself now. The clown pushes Ben violently against a shelf and hurries towards Bill. As Ben hits his head against the shelf, he gets really dizzy for a few moments. With the book in his hand, which Bill threw at him, he comes closer and closer. "You know, Billie boy, what I have in my hand here is real literature. Do you think you'll ever be able to write that brilliant? You'll be laughed at. For your sick fantasies. They'll think you've lost your mind over little Georgie." Bill swallows several times. He still misses his little brother every day. He sees Georgie before him again, in the yellow rain cape. He can't stop a few tears running down his cheeks. How he would like to be able to hold his brother in his arms again. Never should he have sent him out alone in the rain. The clown pulls a pitiful face. "Believe me, he's doing fine with me." The sadness develops into an incredible rage. It's because of this clown, Georgie is no longer alive. He stares angrily and doggedly into the clown's face. "You killed Georgie! You'll pay for this!" Actually, he doesn't stammer at all. With a jerk, he grabs a couple of books and throws them right at the clown's feet. Then he uses the moment of surprise and pain of his opponent to knock over one of the shelves, which fortunately are not stable in this case. With a loud crash the clown is buried under the shelf. Bill immediately runs over to Ben, who stands up moaning. "Are y...y...you all right?" he asks, still looking back at Pennywise with concern. The clown would certainly recover quickly. "We g...go..gotta get you s...s..some ice chips. But first we gotta get out of here. Can you stand up?" Ben nods hesitantly. He's still damn dizzy and his head is buzzing. With Bill's help, he manages to stand up. He still swings a little, but soon he manages to stand up on his own. They run to the locked door. Bill takes a closer look around. Then he discovers a pin board with some pins. They are very lucky that they can actually open the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Richie finds himself alone in a room that was probably once a bedroom. At least there's a bedstead in there. Otherwise, this room is also covered with dust and spider webs. The ceiling above him shows clear mold spots. he wants to get up, but immediately realizes that he is too dizzy and sick to do so. A short, careless look at his hand with the blood-stained hole between his fingers reminds him too much of why he feels like this. His hand still hurts like hell too. He tries to encourage himself with the fact that he still has his whole arm. Compared to what Pennywise did to Bill's brother Georgie, that's still mild. At the same time, he wonders why he's still alive. Startled, he tries to crawl to the bedstead as the door is ripped open. 

Surprisingly, it's not Pennywise who enters the room, but Mike and Bev, who woke up in the hallway and bravely opened the first door they could reach. "Rich..." Bev spots him first. She can't tell you how relieved she is to find him alive. "Are you so afraid of us?" she asks teasingly. But when she notices that Richie still looks pretty shaky, she gets to him pretty fast. Right now she wishes Eddie was here to tend to Richie's wound. Even she can barely look at his hand. "I could be good in a horror movie with this, huh?!" says Richie then and tries to smile bravely. "We really need water to wash out the wound." Beverly is trying to think as clearly as she can. Her eyes fall on Mike, who so far is just standing in a corner, brooding. "Hey, Sherlock! Our friend here needs help!" Mike flinches. "Sorry, I'm still trying to figure out who's doing this to us." "Um... who it was, of course. Mike, I saw the clown. It's IT. Not a felon or a Moriarty.“ Richie roll his eyes a little bit. "I'm looking for water, as Mr. Mike Holmes seems to prefer to pursue his detective fantasies!" Beverly gives Mike the evil eye. "Don't go! Not alone!", Richie holds her back with one flick of his wrist. "We will find no water here." Mike sounds calm, although he's just as scared inside as the other two. "And why does the great detective think that?" Bev can't know that Mike is just trying to do his job well. She feels that Mike is being overbearing about something. Like her college buddies. Because there's no water supply here anymore. Unless you go back down to the sewers. But that would be too risky. Our backpacks are gone. We'd better get out of here fast and find the others." Bev has to admit it sounds reasonable. At that moment the door closes with a loud bang. Damn, Mike should have seen that coming. "Too bad nobody thought of a picnic blanket and food, I think we'll be sitting here longer." Once again, Richie tries to cover up his growing anxiety. "Shut up, Richie! I gotta think!", that sounds rougher than Mike intends. Beverly's also starting to think about what's actually going on. "Okay, Sherlock. You're right, something's definitely wrong here. I mean, even for IT to be involved. " Richie looks back and forth between the two of them like they've lost their minds. "Hello? It's IT. I should know." He's holding his injured hand out to Bev. "It did this to me. " "It doesn't strike you as odd that IT didn't eat you up right away? IT left us your finger as a souvenir. I don't know if you do that when you're a hungry clown.“ "Wow, that sounds like it would make more sense if I wasn't alive!" Richie hisses back. "That's incredibly encouraging." "I say there's someone human behind all this. Someone who would dare cut off a finger. IT would have bitten it off and never bothered to use a knife. " Richie must involuntarily choke at the thought that someone would bite off his finger in agony. Although it makes perfect sense what Mike is explaining. "And who would do something so sick?" he still asks, rather pale. "Can't you think of anyone? Use your brain, Richie." "It's a little hard to think when your hand hurts like hell and your words make me want to puke," Richie's really trying to hold back not to throw up. "Henry Bowers and his gang." That's coming from Bev now. why didn't she think of that before? Cutting off someone's finger, that was pretty much what she thought Patrick Hockstetter in particular would do. "Shouldn't Bowers be in jail? I heard he murdered his own father." Richie stands up again and looks at Mike surprised. He can't deny that he kind of likes it when Mike acts like Sherlock. Bev and Mike remind him a little bit of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. "Imagine if Vic and Belch had saved him from going to prison. Where do you hide someone for a long time?" Right now Richie is definitely not in the position to draw logical conclusions. Beverly understands it immediately. "Here at the old well house." "And Patrick, where does he come in?" Meanwhile, Richie just sat down on the floor. "If he found out that Vic and Belch are hiding Henry here, they'd probably do anything to keep him hidden," Beverly now replies. 

Richie jumps up from the floor when the rotten wardrobe suddenly jumps up and Patrick Hockstetter appears. "Bravo Sherlock, I thought you'd figure it out!" After him, Henry Bowers appears. "I still say we never should have let him find out." Patrick snorts amused. "You're a killjoy, Hen. Trust me, it was worth the risk." "I don't trust you at all!" Henry gives Patrick a very scornful look. The dark-haired one just smiles. You can clearly see that Henry does not like working with Patrick at all. "Which of you two is responsible for my missing a finger now?" Richie opens his mouth first, of course. Both mobbers must laugh about it. Henry grabs Richie by the collar. "It must have really hurt pretty bad, huh? Maybe we should have neutered you better. " "Leave him alone," Bev tries to defend her friend. "Vic! Belch! Keep that detective and Dr Watson away from us for a while!" Vic and Belch appear through the door. Belch has a bump on the head. Vic grabs Bev while Belch takes care of Mike. "You mean this finger here?" Patrick puts his finger in the plastic bag that Mike stuck it in, right in front of Richie's face. Richie can feel him getting really sick now. Pat doesn't even seem to mind Richie throwing up on his feet. He can feel his knees slowly giving way. "It's time to bring the losers back together. After you were all too stupid to let them get away!" , Henry's yapping at his gang members. "What should I do if a shelf falls on me?" Reg tries to defend himself. Pat has to laugh. "You let those two losers get away too. How sick you must be to let that Jewish loser cut himself!" replies Belch. Pat wants to burn his arms for that. "What did you do to Stan?!" Although he feels weak, he tries to resist Henry's grip. "He's still alive, but his wrist is bled a lot!" "You're such pigs!",is now coming from Beverly. She also tries to wriggle out of Vics grip, but that doesn't work. "I know you want to be loyal to Henry. But this is sick. Even you have to see that." Though Vic is very doubtful and afraid of what's going on here, he's definitely not gonna show it in front of Henry. "Your psychologist crap doesn't work on me!" Pat pulls out a knife again. "Will you or shall I? The scream of the spectacled lady will surely bring the others here." Henry hesitates briefly, but then he reaches for the knife. He pushes up Richie's shirt a little and stabs him in the stomach with all his might. Richie cries out in pain. Henry cuts along the stomach with the knife. Slowly a trail of blood forms on the stomach. Richie cries out more and more, the pain becomes unbearable. It doesn't take long before the four missing losers storm into the room. Eddie can feel the glances for a moment because he is still walking around with naked upper bodies. "Maybe you should put your shirt back on. It stopped bleeding anyway," Stan whispers quietly. "And you shouldn't walk around like that in front of Bowers and his gang." He adds to this when he is startled to discover who is in the room. Eddie's thinking mainly of Richie right now and for once he's not thinking about how cool it is to walk around like that or how it affects the Bowers gang. "You let Richie go right now or I'll beat the shit out of you!" He's gonna come at Henry and Pat with his fists in a knot. "Ed… Eddie's right. Y…y..you let him go now! You let us go, you're outnumbered!" The two mobbers do not let themselves be upset by this. "If you come one step closer, your friend is dead!", Henry yells at the losers. Reluctantly Eddie stops, but his fists remain closed. The knife is still in Richie's stomach. The blood runs all the way down the stomach. "Hen, that's enough," Vic finally says. "Are you really such a coward, Bowers? Let him bleed!" Richie can see the madness in Pat's eyes pretty clearly. He convulsively tries not to let the pain be seen too much. "If you don't let us go now, the police will definitely hear about what happened here. I promise you, Henry, we won't say anything if you let Rich go. If you leave us alone." It's a pathetic attempt to get out of here alive. Bev can look at Henry and see how scared he is of getting caught. She feels that the mention of the police might just trigger it even more. At first Henry even pulls the knife out of Richie's stomach. "They are lying to us! They call the police as soon as they leave! And besides, you've already killed!" Damn, Bev can tell that Pat has fun stirring up Henry. She's got a bad feeling in her stomach. This feeling is confirmed. Henry strikes out and stabs a second time, this time in Richie's heart area. The dark-haired man cries out and almost collapses in pain, if Henry wouldn't hold him down too. 

Bill and Mike look at each other at the same time. You need to distract Henry somehow. But how? Since Bev and Mike are both being held, the idea that Bev could somehow distract the bullying boys is dropped. Bill bites his lips. He'll probably have to do something. Why would the bullies be so surprised? Bill and Mike look at each other at the same time. You need to distract Henry somehow. But how? Since Bev and Mike are both being held, the idea that Bev could somehow distract the bullying boys is dropped. Bill bites his lips. He'll probably have to do something. Why would the bullies be so surprised? He goes up to the still half-naked Eddie and kisses him on the lips. "Join in, maybe that will be enough of a distraction," he murmurs to him. Fortunately Eddie understands pretty quickly. He pulls Bill closer and strokes his sides. In fact, Henry is so stunned that he forgets to hold on to Rich. Vic and Reg also pay more attention to the two boys. It happens very quickly that the losers throw themselves at the Bowers Gang. Even Patrick gets distracted. They find some strings to tie the bullies together. Richie doesn't see much of the distraction. As soon as Henry lets him go, he's going down. He's writhing in pain. Eddie's the first one to run to Richie. "We need something to stop all this blood." Then he storms to the tied up Henry. "Where's my fanny pack, you asshole?!" Henry remains silent. Belch doesn't stay so quiet, though. "Your things are in the next room!" Eddie doesn't waste any time, he gets his two fanny packs and tries to dress Richie's wounds. They have to get Richie to the hospital as soon as possible. 

They initially leave the mobbers tied up in the Neibolt house. Bill and Mike support Richie and bring him outside. "I'm going to the nearest payphone", Bev rides her bike pretty fast. They find a little wall where they can lean on Richie. Bill shakes Richie because he doesn't move at all. "Rich? Rich?" His heart is racing. He puts his fingers around his neck and he's terrified. "He's not breathing." "It can't be!" Now Mike is also shaking the dark-haired one. Eddie is full of panic himself, but after all he has seen many ambulance movies to know exactly what he does in emergency situations. "Put him down!" he commands. He can't remember exactly how everything works himself, but he tries as hard as he can to reanimate Richie, push and give him artificial respiration. The others are standing around pretty frozen. The seconds seem like hours while Eddie struggles. "Come on, Rich," he says softly as he pumps again. They all struggle with the tears. "Rich, please!" Eddie starts to get tired, but tries it one more time. He almost gets a fright when Richie's chest is raised and he coughs. "He's alive, he's alive. "


	9. Chapter 9

The losers waited all those long hours in the waiting room. Eddie was pacing back and forth. Stan was hanging on to Bill. Mike tried to strengthen the others with positive words. Ben had fallen asleep on Bev's shoulder from exhaustion. Until finally a doctor came to them and reported that Richie was alive. Now they enter the hospital room. Richie still looks quite pale, but smiles when he sees his friends. Each of the losers hugs Richie gently. Eddie will be embarrassed.Thanks for saving my life, Eds." "Don't call me Eds," he protests, but smiling away. Richie reaches out a hand and holds onto Eds'. "Please don't look away, Eds." Eddie looks at Richie pretty skeptically. He keeps his hand in Richie's, though. "Please don't look away, Eds." "Please don't look away, Eds." Eddie looks at Richie pretty skeptically. He keeps his hand in Richie's, though. "You know, I've decided to stop hiding. At least from you. I like boys." He takes a breath for a minute. "I mean, I'm homosexual. I make an exception for Bev, Bev, you're an exception, but generally, I find men attractive. Which is a problem for an actor. I mean, who likes to hire a homosexual actor I don't know if I can come out to the world, but I want to do it in front of you. I don't want to lie to you or pretend anymore." In the first moment the others are actually just stunned. "Is that really you, Richie? It sounds so... ...thoughtful." That's the first thing Eddie comes up with. "Hey, I can think very seriously!", actually Richie wants to sound outraged, but he has to laugh somehow. "Oh, yeah? And what do you think now, seriously?", Eddie counters. "Oh, yeah? And what do you think now, seriously?" Eddie counters. "Do you really want to know?" Richie looks Eddie right in the brown eyes. 

Mike wants to make a comment, but Bill holds him back. "This is too good right now“, he whispers in a slightly amused voice. Eddie now looks at Richie in a very confused way. He doesn't even know whether to say yes or no. "Do you think Richie really has the balls?" whispers Bev to Bill. "I dared to do it with you“, he replies softly. "But with me, there was no risk of me giving you a bloody nose." Bill has to grin about that comment. Richie swallows a moment. He's a little worried about Eddie's reaction. After all, he doesn't know anything about it, since he has already kissed Bill and Stan, so he is quite experienced. Then he straightens up a little more and kisses Eddie right on the mouth. The other one is so perplexed that he actually pushes him away slightly at first. "What did I say?!", Bev smiles cheekily at Bill. 

After the first moment of shock Eddie pulls the dark-haired curly head towards him and kisses him back. But leaves him very quickly and awkwardly. It's a little embarrassing with an audience like that. "How many times did you practice this on your mother?" Now richie can't help himself. He's just still used to expressing his feelings in jokes. Actually, what he's trying to say is how good a kisser Eddie is. "I had two better candidates, asshole," Eddie just says dryly. "Maybe I shouldn't have resuscitated you." "Then I would have been a zombie on your nerves. Wait... what? Who robbed me of the honor of your first kiss?" Bill clears his throat and tries to quickly bring up another topic. "Since Richie so kindly confessed his fears to us, perhaps we should all tell the truth now. I want each and every one of you to tell us what's bothering him. It's no surprise that I want to be a writer and hope that soon some publisher will be interested in my stories. But, I'm afraid my story won't go down well. that I'll only be declared mad because I write horror stories. I'm afraid it'll only refer to Georgie's death." "Your stories are unique, Bill. You'll be the best writer, you're already the best writer I know." Eddie throws him a smile. "You'd better send your stories to every publisher in town," Bev adds. "Or you won't get another kiss from me!" She says the last one with a wink. Ben gives the two of them slightly jealous looks. "I want to be a good psychotherapist, but I can't forget my past. I'm afraid that it will catch up with me in therapy sessions. "Besides, I don't want to be treated like a stupid girl anymore. I want to be free of men who want to do violence to me or who want to constrain me. I want to be in control of myself. " "Any patient will be lucky to have you as their therapist. You are the strongest, bravest woman I know. You will stand up to others, I know that“, Stan now says. "And I'm very sorry for rejecting you like that. I'm sorry I turned down everyone but Richie." Bill puts his arm around Stan's shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for." Stan takes a quick look at Richie. igrendwise he needs additional confirmation to tell his story. Richie nods encouragingly. "I have been depressed for a long time. It is probably most of all because of my strict father and the fact that I cannot get rid of this slight fear. Richie saved me from killing myself. Whether I graduate or not, I'm gonna have to keep fighting this." "You have six friends here who will fight with you. We won't leave you alone with this!" Bill strokes Stan's cheek and then raises his chin a little. "Yes, I know," Stan says softly. "You are the ones who give me a reason to live. You're the ones who make me laugh even when I'm depressed.“ Mike interrupts the touched, melancholic mood. "Well, I want to be a private detective. I know I've been giving you guys a little bit of a hard time these last few hours. It's just,I want to be taken seriously. Who would hire a dark-skinned private detective? Maybe I needed to prove to myself that I had what it takes." "Well, you really impressed me," Richie says. "How fast you got on the Bowers Gang, you were definitely like Sherlock Holmes. He who doesn't hire you will never find his lost purse or solve his husband's murder." Mike immediately has to laugh about the fact that Richie of course immediately seems to have ideas what his cases could be. Ben looks at Mike probing. "You know what, if you don't believe in yourself yet, analyze what my problem is." He's just got to challenge him. 

Mike accepts the challenge immediately. He looks at Ben with a scrutiny. "You look pretty guilty when it comes to future plans. Sometimes you've even dodged questions or looked in another direction in shame. I assume you are not studying what you pretend to be studying and are ashamed to tell us what you are actually studying. "Ben just nods. He is incredibly afraid that the others would laugh out loud. Bill already has a strong idea of what Ben actually wants for a profession. But he remains silent. Now Mike walks around Ben, which makes him slightly uncomfortable. "The question now remains as to what you are really studying. It must be a subject that is not very popular or that many people don't find interesting. You're dying to know what it is." Ben nods again. "You enjoy reading, spending time in libraries. "You love to do research. In your apartment you have arranged your books. I saw that when I came to visit. I deduce that what you really want to be is a librarian." Ben looks at his friends insecurely. "That's right!" "I think that's pretty cool!" Ben looks at Eddie in astonishment. "It suits you, Ben. You're just pretty good at research. Remember how fast you were able to pick out the right books and internet resources for my Jack the Ripper paper?" "Yes, I remember that!" "You're gonna be the cutest librarian ever!" Bev smiles at Ben. This will of course turn red again. "Um... we still have to hear Eddie's story," he then tries to get his mind off himself again quickly. "With me, it's no surprise. I study history because my mother tells me to. I want to move out as soon as I've finished my studies and maybe even study something that interests me." "Do this, Eds. Don't let anyone else dominate you. I think everybody would take you in so you wouldn't have to sleep around your mom's house anymore," Richie says softly. Above all, you want me to stay with you!" Eddie's making a factual statement. "I don't mind if you bring those two you were kissing." Richie smiles. "We'll start an orgy at Richie's apartment," Bill chuckles. "Better there than here," is Richie's comment. 

Bill's getting serious again. "I believe it is time for a renewal of our covenant." He goes straight back to Richie's bed and puts his hand on Richie's bandaged hand. The others do the same. "Say you swear that we'll always stay together as friends. That we'll help each other go our separate ways, that we'll give each other the care and love that each needs. "A unanimous "We Swear!" sounds. And now, in order for us to really know that we all belong together, everybody would have to kiss everybody. " Bill is joking, but Mike immediately kisses him on the mouth without comment. Bill now does the same with Stan. This is the way it goes all around. Many people would now declare her to be completely crazy. In fact they all get their graduation. They stay friends. Richie invites them over to his house after his first gig. Meanwhile, Eddie really lives with him and goes to acting school after all. Richie helps him with that. Bill becomes a respected author and starts to write a horror thriller, whose hero he writes after Mike's example. They celebrate Bill's success together. Stan has a rocky road ahead of him, but has a lot of support from his friends and still works as a mathematician. Ben becomes head of a small library and Bev a very popular therapist. No matter how far apart they live from each other at the moment. They are actually only a phone call away from each other. Losers stick together and keep fighting for their future together.


End file.
